Avanade: Eyes on Malaysia

Mike Pazak, vice-president of Avanade Inc. is in Malaysia having talks with prospective banking customers and has a lot of confidence that Avanade’s new enterprise CRM for financial solutions will help them win a large share of the Malaysian market and help Avanade grow the Microsoft CRM for the business enterprise and financial services sector.

Avanade is a global technology integrator for Microsoft enterprise solutions and Mike Pazak has been involved with Avanade since it was formed in 2000. In an interview with the Malaysian press Pazak said, "I am meeting with customers in Malaysia, understanding their challenges and, with the help of the local arm, will offer solutions that are accepted in the local market." He also indicated that he was encouraged by what he heard while talking to existing and prospective customers during this visit and past visits. This is Pazak’s second visit to Malaysia this year.

Pazak said he was impressed with the strong reception and was optimistic of the strength of the local market to help Avanade grew the Microsoft CRM for the business enterprise and financial services sector.

"We are targeting four to five more clients in the near future. Currently, we are talking to them to identify their challenges and tell them how our solutions can deliver business results," Pazak said. Right now there are ten anchor banks in Malaysia; there are also three Islamic banks, ten other foreign banks and three banking licenses still to be issued. Most of the potential customers Pazak has seen in Malaysia are still using first-generation CRM solutions and want very badly to upgrade their technology.

Avanade is aggressively pursuing these opportunities and is working with their local team to make sure that they have the knowledge and capabilities required to deliver what the market requires. Avanade was originally founded in Seattle, Washington in 2000 as a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture. Since its inception, Avanade has expanded its operations into 39 countries.